1. Field of the Invention
Provided herein are patient-specific surgical guiding tools for positioning on a socket of a ball-and-socket joint, e.g. a glenoid cavity. The guiding tools allow accurate positioning of surgical tools such as alignment elements, according to pre-operational planning. Methods for the manufacture and use of the guiding tools are also provided.
2. Description of the Related Technology
In most joint arthroplasty, replacement and/or reconstruction surgery procedures, the joint is replaced by a prosthetic implant. The main goal of such interventions is to relieve (arthritic) pain and/or to restore severe physical joint damage. When a prosthesis fails, a revision surgery is carried out. However, this procedure is technically more difficult and time-consuming than the primary intervention and the outcome is often less satisfactory. Furthermore, with each successive joint revision, the risk of infection and symptomatic loosening of the prosthesis may increase substantially. Accordingly, one of the most important aspects of joint surgery procedures is the correct, accurate and stable placement of the primary implant.
In order to improve the accuracy of surgical procedures in general, various custom made, patient-specific orthopedic guides are available. These custom guides may be used to accurately place pins, guide bone cuts, and insert implants during orthopedic procedures.
Typically, the guides are made from a pre-operative plan formed from an MRI or CT scan of the patient and rely on the matching of a subcutaneous anatomic feature for correct positioning of the guide according to pre-operational planning. Typically, these guides rely on a direct surface contact with the defined anatomy. The contact surface is generally bone and/or cartilage, although guides contacting other soft tissues than cartilage have been developed.
However, certain anatomies cannot be contacted with a surface matched guide because the exact tissue shape cannot be determined, the tissue is too soft to provide a stable position for the guide, and/or the tissues are too vulnerable to be contacted with the guide. For example, surgical guides for use in shoulder joint surgery cannot fit accurately onto the glenoid labrum which surrounds the glenoid fossa. This makes it difficult to design compact and accurate surgical guides for shoulder joint surgery, especially because the surface of the glenoid fossa itself is not adequate to achieve a unique fit position.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved surgical guiding tools for joint surgery.